Due to the state of emergency and the lack of laborers in the horticultural sector, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has decided to provide support to Citrustech in a project involving two of the largest Spanish citrus groups. The idea is to develop prototypes to mechanize the citrus harvest.
The initiative comes from the García Carrión group, owner of the Don Simón brand, which is taking part in the project through the company Cítricos del Andévalo, and from the Valencian second-grade cooperative Anecoop, one of the main Spanish exporters. The project also counts with the cooperation of the University of Córdoba, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA) and the agricultural credit institution Cajamar.
According to the promoters, the project has two main objectives. On the one hand, it aims for the mechanization of citrus cultivation, which should positively affect the financial results of producing companies through the restructuring and modernization of the cultivation model. On the other hand, it also aims to counter climate change by preserving and improving citrus plantations, preventing their abandonment and motivating younger generations to take over.
Source: expansion.com